This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The discovery of a badly decomposed body early Friday morning has Unified Police investigators combing a heavily wooded area along the Jordan River in south Salt Lake County for clues.
Public safety dispatchers received a 911 call about 1 a.m. from a motorist who discovered the remains. The caller had been driving along a dirt access road near 700 West and 9000 South and got stuck in mud. While he was working to free his vehicle, he reportedly spotted the body.
UPD Lt. Justin Hoyal said the remains are those of an adult, but it will take an autopsy and forensic testing to determine age, gender, identity and the cause of death.
As is typical in cases of suspicious deaths, the case is being investigated as a homicide.
Once detectives complete evidence gathering at the scene, the body will be turned over to the Utah State Medical Examiner's Office.
The body was found 100 to 200 yards north of 9000 South amid a dense thicket of trees and brush next to a stretch of the river on the municipal border between West Jordan and Sandy.
Numerous homeless men have made a habit of camping along the Jordan River, and police are looking into whether the victim may have been a transient.
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